[REWRITING] Katarina Richelieu loved fables but never believed in fairy tales although she knew magic existed in the world. On her twenty-first birthday her father's forced to repay an old debt to faery royalty, and Katarina has to sacrifice her fre...
THE SOUND OF POUNDING ON the door woke me up from my sleep, and I lurched forward from my lying position up into a sitting one.
It took a moment for me to open my eyes as they were sealed shut by crust, and I ran my hand over my face before blinking and glancing at the door.
The knocking continued for a moment, and I heard an irritated voice outside of it.
"It is me, Delaney, the only person willing to be your friend right now. Please open the door if you're awake," the woman huffed.
I hesitantly rose to my feet and slowly walked to the door. Using the current strength I had I unlocked the door and took a step back coming face to face with the woman I'd met from yesterday.
"Hello," she said, pushing past me and then looking around.
"As time goes on you'll be able to buy things that'll make this room a bit more homey," she said, and I just remained silent.
I didn't want to think that I'd just been kidnapped a few hours ago, and now I was going to spend my birthday away from my family.
"Put on your work clothes and then we head off. You'll have to bathe later just make sure to clean your face," she told me and I nodded.
I got the clothes that I had placed on the side of the bed and began to put them on, Delaney turning the other way so she didn't have to see me. I'd done this before around my siblings and girls I went to school with if we needed time to change so it wasn't exactly odd, but it was still unnerving being in a place I didn't know. And I felt weak for accepting it and not fighting back.
Once I was done I smoothed out my hair and let it flow down my back and then turned towards Delaney.
"What now?" I questioned as I put on my boots.
"I'll show you what kind of work you'll be doing," she told me and I nodded.
We walked out the door together and I followed by her side.
She glanced at my bracelet and bit her bottom lip.
"People are going to ask you what you did, possibly even royals. It seems like someone's made you swear not to tell so I think you'll have to hide that. If you don't answer a royal faerie's question they'll get insulted," she said and then took off a white ribbon from her hand.
She put it around the bracelet on my wrist and then smiled.
"Thank you," I told her with a smile, and she nodded.
"What kind of work are we doing?" I questioned.
"In my unit we serve the royals and do what they want. You might have to hang around one and attend to their needs should they ask for you. We make sure their clothes are handled in a timely minor, their beds made. Anything like that," she said and I nodded.
"Just be happy we're not stuck with only brooms and dust," she said bubbly, and I couldn't help but release a soft laugh.
"Can you tell me about the Llewellyn family?" I asked as we walked down the stairs.
She gave me a look and then seemed to realize something because then she nodded.
"Of course," she said, clearing her throat.
"They're highborn faeries. What people from your realm would call nobility," she said and I nodded as I took in the information.
"Prince Trystan Llewellyn is the only person alive in his family so he runs the palace with the help of Ruairc Llewellyn," she said and I pursed my lips at Ruairc's name.
"Trystan's father was Rhys Llewellyn, King of the Summer Court. His mother was Catrin Llewellyn, a lovely woman she was," Delaney said sadly.
"They were both assassinated by someone unknown. They were never caught unfortunately," she said.
"Trystan is trying to become King of the Summer Court now but the Fallon family has a high claim over it so it's likely that he won't be able to take it," she said and I nodded.
We rounded a hallway, and thoughts were swarming round and round in my mind.
"How many courts are there?" I questioned.
"There are four main ones. There can be minor ones but politically going up we focus on the four. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter," she explained. "I personally love the autumn court. I think you'd fancy summer."
Delaney looked me up and down, and I shrugged.
"I actually prefer Spring," I said and she smiled.
"That is more fitting."
"Who's the king of the other courts?" I questioned and she smiled, seeming happy to tell me.
"So we have a High King that stands above all the courts, and his name is Alasdair Ronayne, king of the faeries. The rulers of the courts are nobility but they're more like whispers in his ears that help guide him but he always has the final say," she said.
"The current queen of the spring court is Ciara Rothlian but everyone knows it should've been Jenavieve Varian," she said with a shake of her head.
"The king of the Summer Court is Dareagh Fallon, father of the popular Fallon children. You'll see them around soon I can promise you that," she said and I chuckled at her tone.
"King of the autumn court is Rowan Hyland, and King of the winter court is Kincaid Wearne. His wife is Jenavieve Varian," she finished explaining and I nodded trying to digest the information.
It'd probably take me a while to remember all of that.
"I promise it's not completely bad here, especially since you work for the Llewellyn family. They're all very worried about looks and reputation," Delaney said.
"Also they have Brownies doing the harder work as they like cleaning so no one's ever overworked," she reassured me and I gave her a half heart smile..
She patted my shoulder and gave me a sad smile.
"I wish I could promise you that you'll go home but I can't. As a human once you're here, you never go back."
For a moment I stopped breathing.
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